Endoscopic surgery: talent or training?

This study proves whether the subjective impression of the laparoscopic trainer is verifiable and which factors influence extreme talent.Methods21 medical students of the eighth term of the University of Witten-Herdecke participated in the study. On their first course day, students got instructed in suturing and knot technique. They were then required to tie a maximum of five knots within 2  h. After a week, students repeated this procedure. Time used for tying knots was stopped.ResultsRegarding the time students used for their first knots, great differences were provable (7 –8 min, average 23 min). However, an adaption of the knotting time was noticed at the end of the first course day. This was confirmed during the second course day. Neither acquired factors (music, sport, etc.) nor individual factors (visual acuity, handedness, etc.) had any impact on the time us ed for knotting. Merely, one advantage was seen with the first knots with the factors of playing the guitar and having a more than 10-h surgical previous experience. Knotting times leveled off at 95% to less than 10 min, though.DiscussionNeither normally talented nor extremely talented junior surgeons could be noticed, and so could not the co-factors providing an advantage or disadvantage for surgery, respectively. All prospective surgeons can learn defined tasks (knots) by short interval training, and thus show similarly good results after a few repetitions.
Source: Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics - Category: OBGYN Source Type: research